Catherine Woulfe

Books editor

Catherine Woulfe is the editor of The Spinoff Books. She is an award-winning news and features journalist, and longtime books obsessive. She welcomes pitches of essays or reviews at catherinewoulfe@thespinoff.co.nz

Society
Apr 23, 2021

Auckland's new school zones: 'We feel like we're being kicked out of our community'

How did we end up with a school system, with a social infrastructure, that splits up siblings when they’re five and nine? 

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Books
Apr 16, 2021

Ben can read

He was another little boy deciding books weren't for him. And then, he wasn't.

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Books
Apr 11, 2021

The sexiest lines from New Zealand's sexiest new book, Devil's Trumpet

You haven't seen sex written like this before.

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Books
Mar 20, 2021

The Spinoff Book Report #1

Nine books that come highly recommended (by us).

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Books
Mar 3, 2021

Ockham NZ Book Awards shortlist, 2021: the brutal cull, revealed – plus, our pick for the win

179 entered; 40 made the longlist; 24 of those just bit the award dust. Here are the 16 that remain, with bonus analysis.

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Books
Feb 10, 2021

The pandemic novel that’s about to be a phenomenon

The new virus was said to have a 100% kill rate. But it left one woman standing.

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Books
Jan 25, 2021
Books
Dec 28, 2020

A sincere appreciation of The Hunger Games

On the release of a new Hunger Games novel, we looked back and marvelled.

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Books
Dec 15, 2020

Twenty books that were a tonic in 2020

In which we throw convention to the wind and simply tell you what we loved – and they're all local.

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Books
Dec 11, 2020

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending 10 December

What were you buying as we hit December double digits?

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Books
Dec 2, 2020

The type machine: A review of Tom Sainsbury’s Field Guide

He's one of our best-known comics. Why didn't he write a better book?

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Books
Oct 10, 2020

Victory Park is the book you’ll want to give to the ones you love

Victory Park is the first novel from Mākaro Press since August 2019, when they put out a little book called Auē.

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Books
Aug 30, 2020

Eileen Merriman’s new novel is sharp, sensual and her finest yet

Quite possibly the best NZ novel of the year, according to our books editor.

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Books
Aug 18, 2020

I spent far too much time thinking about Midnight Sun

A review of the new Twilight novel, which is actually the old story, told from the perspective of vampire Edward Cullen.

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Books
Aug 6, 2020

One man’s poetic pilgrimage along the river he loves

Catherine Woulfe reviews Upstream on the Mataura, a memoir by Gore flyfisherman Dougal Rillstone chronicling his journey along the Southland river.

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Books
Aug 5, 2020

‘Writing as Edward stressed me out’: Stephenie Meyer on returning to Twilight

The Twilight author on gender politics, anxiety, and the dark experience of writing as Edward Cullen.

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Te Hiringa Hauora
Jul 14, 2020

‘There is a way through’: Mothers open up about maternal mental distress

Four women share their experiences with perinatal distress, and how to get through it.

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Books
Jun 16, 2020

The book that saved me from peak Covid-19 anxiety

Thank goodness for Wendyl Nissen and her chooks.

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Books
May 19, 2020

A sincere appreciation of The Hunger Games

On the release of a new Hunger Games novel, we look back and marvel.

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Books
May 12, 2020

Introducing the Ockhams-ready Spinoff book awards bingo card!

Play along at home during the virtual awards ceremony tonight.

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Books
May 3, 2020

Did the Covid-19 crisis bork your attention span? Here’s why

We ask a clinical psychologist why our attention spans are so completely shot to pieces – and how to fix it.

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Society
Mar 25, 2020

My dad, locked down

All I can do, now, is wrap him up in love and trust that the people who are looking after him are wrapping him up in love, too.

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Books
Mar 4, 2020

The Ockham finalists just got announced, and two very hot books are missing

Ladies and gentlemen we have a horse race. Books editor Catherine Woulfe offers up some odds.

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Books
Feb 29, 2020

The teacher stories

I had planned to write an unabashed rave review, and then another book landed in my letterbox – and I just couldn't read those stories in isolation from my own experience.

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Books
Jan 30, 2020

Breaking news: the Ockhams 2020 finalists, a chorus of triumph and travesty

Here are the 40 books that made it, followed by some frank thoughts from our books editor.

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Books
Jan 5, 2020

Three Women: The astonishing study of female desire that has everyone talking

Three Women is a fervent, scrupulous qualitative review of female desire. It’s also a lesson in commitment – and the powerful act of paying attention.

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